Están invitados a unirse a nuestra campaña que ofrecerá a los adultos en Denver lugares seguros y legales en donde consumir cannabis. Para más información, y para inscribirse a apoyar nuestra campaña, visite socialuse.org
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The goal of this local ballot initiative campaign is to place a comprehensive ordinance on the General Election ballot on November 8, 2016 in the City
and County of Denver, Colorado. The 2016 Neighborhood Approved Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program Initiative allows adults in Denver to consume cannabis in regulated establishments, such as bars, cafes, art galleries, music venues, and coffee shops, in permitted areas where access is restricted to adults 21 years of age or older. Our campaign needs to gather 5,000 petition signatures from registered voters in Denver by August 12th, 2016 in order to place the initiative on the November 8 ballot. Our campaign aims to far exceed the signature requirement by submitting more than 10,000 total voter signatures before the deadline. Please contact us if you would like to sign the petition, or if you would like to help us by volunteering to gather petition signatures at events and public places. Furthermore, to ensure success our campaign needs to raise $100,000 in order to complete the petition drive, to place the initiative on the November 8 ballot and to support a wide-scale educational and voter outreach campaign. Please consider making a contribution in order to help this groundbreaking — and potentially trend-setting — campaign succeed. In November 2012, the voters of Colorado made the consumption of cannabis legal for all adults through the passage of Amendment 64. However, officials in Denver have stood in the way of progressive cannabis policy reform by declaring that any non-residential venue where a substantial number of the public have access — is a “public place", and have therefore made cannabis use in all “public places” entirely illegal. This attempt to perpetuate prohibition and the stigmatization of cannabis consumers is coming to a stop. The 2016 initiative will create a robust permitting process for cannabis consumption establishments and designated consumption areas with strict public safety and security requirements. The proponents of Amendment 64, Mason Tvert of the Ma*****na Policy Project and Brian Vicente of the Vicente Sederberg law firm, reunited to serve as proponents of a similar measure in 2015 which began the public dialogue surrounding regulation of cannabis consumption establishments. The backers of the 2015 initiative eventually withdrew their measure, as they were hopeful to find a 'compromise' solution with civic leaders and other key stakeholders, including neighborhood organizations. Now just one year later, a broader coalition of backers, including business owners and stakeholders from all backgrounds, have come together to support a revised and improved comprehensive social use initiative for Denver, forming the 2016 campaign for the Neighborhood Approved Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program. New provisions of the initiative are meant to empower neighborhoods to be part of the permitting process, and to set a high standard of responsibility for both cannabis consumers and consumption establishment operators. We hope to build off past successes and learning experiences, as we have considered feedback from voters, state and local officials and other stakeholders to offer the best possible initiative in 2016. Our progress in Colorado has established a model for other states and other nations. Given that cannabis is objectively less harmful than alcohol, there is no reason to treat cannabis consumers as second-class citizens. The 2016 initiative will create safe spaces for adults 21 or older to enjoy a safer substance, without being segregated from the rest of society. If you hope to one day see cannabis consumers treated fairly where you live, please make a contribution of any amount to our campaign. Perhaps some day — as soon as this November — you will be able to speak about how you helped bring cannabis one step further out of the shadows.
